Everything happens for a reason. I truly believe this. When I was 12
(almost 30 years ago) my mom & I started volunteering for politicians of a
certain party during elections. Not many years later, this volunteer
position led to my mom working for the Deputy Prime Minister in his
constituency office.

Being an Aboriginal Midwife and an LC, I thought that having that political
background would mean me having 'strings' to pull. Not a chance.

But what I did learn through my 25 years in politics was the art of, for
lack of better words: smooth talking, schmoozing (an art unto itself),
knowing when and how to play your cards to the right people - all this so I
could be HEARD. I know too well what politicians block out and why. While
unseemly at times, the political world has to be changed from the
inside/out.

That political machine is slow - and I mean fridge-cold molasses slow.
Building up relationships of trust is paramount, learning how to play the
game - it doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen in months. Look how
long US LC's have been waiting to be listed and paid for by insurance
companies.

In our life, it seems we have to play the game by their rules, because it
is in their forum where the issues lay (no one said life or rules are right
or fair). In Canada, lobbyists are not allowed, not on the same wave as
they are in Washington. I wish the system was different, but we can't make
a new set of rules, although we would all love to do so.

We can still make change. To paraphrase Maureen Minchin and her brilliant
talk at GOLD (Pettingers cats), if it takes 3 generations to breed the bad
in, it can take 3 generations to build the good back. So, with the work we
all are doing to make a difference in breastfeeding rates.

When those 7 incredible women started LLL - look where that has led. How
exciting it will be in my granddaughter's time! Maybe by then, formula
companies would have been given the boot. Here's hoping.

My hat is off to people who are working within the political machine to
bring up-stream change (they have patience of fridge-cold molasses), while
still helping down stream. It's a tight rope act on which not all are able
to succeed. I've failed my share of times. But, failure at times means more
learning at the end.

Just my thoughts on this wet day on Six Nations.

Steph MacD
Ontario, Canada

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